NEW DELHI: India recorded a single day rise of 3,998 coronavirus fatalities as Maharashtra carried out its 14th Covid data reconciliation exercise, pushing the country's death toll to 4,18,480, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.
The country recorded 42,015 new cases taking the total tally to 3,12,16,337.
The ministry said Maharashtra has carried out reconciliation exercise of Covid data following which the state's positive case tally has increased by 2,479 while the death tally has increased by 3,509.
The active cases in the country have increased to 4,07,170 and comprise 1.30 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.36 per cent,the data updated at 8 am showed.
An increase of 1,040 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
As many as 18,52,140 tests were conducted on Tuesday taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 44,91,93,273, while the daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.27 per cent.
It has been less than three per cent for 30 consecutive days, the ministry said, adding the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 2.09 per cent.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,03,90,687 and the case fatality rate has increased to 1.34 per cent, the data stated.
Cumulative vaccine doses administered so far has reached 41.54 crore under the nationwide vaccination drive.
India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.
It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.
India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23.
The 3,998 new fatalities include 3,656 from Maharashtra and 104 from Kerala.
A total of 4,18,480 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,30,753 from Maharashtra, 36,226 from Karnataka, 33,782 from Tamil Nadu, 25,035 from Delhi, 22,737 from Uttar Pradesh, 18,021 from West Bengal and 16,244 from Punjab.
The ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.
"Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research," the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.
Meanwhile, India's cumulative Covid vaccination coverage has surpassed 41 crore-mark, with 31.79 lakh doses administered on Tuesday, the Union Health Ministry said.
The ministry, in a statement, said 15,03,713 people in the 18-44 age group were given the first dose and 1,36,257 were administered the second dose on Tuesday.
Cumulatively, 12,92,52,381 beneficiaries in the 18-44 age group across 37 states/UTs have received the first dose and a total 52,11,066 have received the second dose since the start of phase-3 of the vaccination drive.
Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh have administered more than one crore doses to the people in the 18-44 age group.
Also, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Haryana, Jharkhand, Kerala, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Uttarakhand and West Bengal have vaccinated more than 10 lakh beneficiaries in this category.
The ministry said so far, 41,52,25,632 doses have been administered in the country.